March 9, 2023
Governance – How to Tee Up a Mega Deal After the Initial Sale
ESN #004
Many sellers know I am not a fan of land-and-expand deals.
But I need to qualify that statement.
(Caveat – this only applies to reps who keep accounts after the initial sale.)
The lazy rep who closes prematurely, takes the land but doesn’t invest in the account to expand – that is pure idiocy.
But a strategic seller who uses the land as the appetizer, inviting the customer to a six-course feast – that is what I’m talking about.
The strategic land-and-expand is the beachhead to months or years of fostering multiple deals – some of them will definitely have mega deal potential.
To establish that beachhead and leverage it to grow the engagement, you need a plan for staying in front of the customer.
And for that I have one word for you – account governance.
Account Governance:
A model of systematizing the ongoing stewardship of a relationship between a supplier and a customer through periodic, pre-arranged meetings.
The purpose of a governance model is to ensure the engagement is healthy and that lines of communication are open between the various levels of players – from worker bees up to senior executives.
Governance is a bread-and-butter sales motion among large tech players and system integrators,
But it is less used by startups and scaleups.
So, if you are at a startup or scaleup, here is your chance to differentiate from your competitors.
The below is an actual slide from a customer I worked with to establish a three-tier governance model.
The three tiers are for the three stakeholder types – worker bees, mid-level managers and senior executives.
Here are the frequencies and agendas for each:
1. Executive summit – 1x per year
- For 2-4 senior executives only
- Both sides share strategic roadmaps for next 3 years
- Address major issues unsolved by lower teams
- Develop exec relationships
2. Portfolio committee – 2x per year
- For system owners, project sponsors
- Health Check for all your installs across their org
- Both sides share strategic roadmaps for next 18 months
3. Project governance – 1-3x per quarter
- For project managers, CS
- Checkpoints for new implementations
- Shop-floor level issue-handling
Having a governance model in place ensures you have pre-agreed sessions on the calendar with senior stakeholders.
No more chasing for meetings – they are set at the beginning of the year.
The customer gets what they want – pre-established health checks and escalation paths.
You get what you want – ongoing access to key stakeholders to expand the engagement.
Here is the magic of why account governance works:
- Governance gives the relationship structure.
- The structure fosters order, pre-established health checks and escalation paths.
- An orderly, well-maintained relationship is what big enterprises want.
- When you deliver this kind of customer experience, that’s when they are ready to go all in, make you a preferred vendor and you get your shot at a mega deal.
Summary:
- Account governance is the best system for account relationship management.
- It should include all levels of stakeholders – worker bees, mid-level managers and executives.
- It gives both sides what they want, thus paving the way for expanding the engagement.
If you want to go deeper:
I go into much greater detail into account governance and every other key component of doing uncommonly large enterprise deals in my Mega Deal Secrets masterclass. Here is the curriculum:
- Mindset
- Personal Branding
- Executive Whispering
- How to Craft a Mega Deal Premise
- Impactful Conversations
- Running the Sales Cycle
- Farming for Mega Deals
- Mega Deal Conjuring
If you are ready to accelerate your earning potential and make enterprise sales your vehicle to financial freedom, book a call with me and my team here to see if you are a fit for the masterclass.